Common Barn Owl
Diana, Nani & Soren
Diana, the darker bird and a female, was found on Highway 99 in West Eugene in November 1994.
She was thin, with a fresh concussion and head injury as well as an older
fracture in the left wing tip which did not heal well enough for release. Although somewhat nervous around people, Diana was the first adult barn owl
that Artemus got along with, so we kept her for companionship.
Artemus, the much whiter bird in the photo with Diana, is a male and had brain damage, either from something congenital or his fall from the nest in March 1991 when he was about 5 weeks old. He never displayed normal defensive responses despite being raised with other nestling barn owls who did, and was always about 2 weeks behind the other birds going through normal developmental stages. Considering that some 60% of young barn owls (and other raptors) die before their first birthday, there was almost no chance that Artemus would survive in the wild. In captivity, he has raised well over 100 foster young, with the help for the last 14 years of Diana - his bonded mate. We lost Artemus to congestive heart failure this spring, despite 6 months of daily medication which he handled with quiet graciousness. After 17 years, he leaves a tremendous hole in our family.
Nani, the darker face and belly of this bird would indicate that she is probably a female. Her nest was destroyed when the farmer needed to break into that stack of hay; she was the 'runt' of the clutch, nearly comatose, and only about half the size of her two siblings when found. We do not know if she was unable to compete for food with her much bigger nest mates or if her parents sensed there was something wrong and simply did not feed her. As she was growing, she was always a couple of weeks behind the other two developmentally. Both wings had 'green stick fractures' of the radius and ulna (breaks that don't go all the way through the bone), causing a deformity of both wings and making it impossible for her to fly well enough for release. Her balance is good, though, and she gets around well. She was transferred to CRC in June 2008 when she was about 2 months old.
Soren, the pale coloration of this bird makes it probable that it is a male. When he was less than a week old, his nest was disturbed accidentally when a farmer moved some hay bales; his siblings were all killed and he fell awkwardly, breaking two toes on his right foot and pulling a muscle in his left leg. He could not stand nor even sit back on his hocks for weeks. The intensive care he needed, and the lack of other barn owls at such an impressionable age, caused him to imprint on humans. Human imprints are not releasable, as they do not relate to their own species, are drawn to people and/or become very territorial and aggressive towards people, and are very likely to get hurt. He was transferred to CRC in June 2008 at the age of 2 months.
Common Barn Owl (Tyto alba)
This is a medium
sized owl with a distinctive, large head with a white, heart-shaped face and
small dark eyes; legs are long, wings are broad but fairly pointed. Plumage
is pale tawny in both sexes, with the male having pale to white undersides
of body and wings. Females are slightly larger in body size, as with most
other raptors, and may be darker. Flight is silent, swift, and buoyant. The
relatively small eyes and the sound-gathering feathered facial disc of the
Barn Owl indicate its ability to hunt by sound only, throughout the darkest
hours of the night or for prey in tall grass.
Notes
Size
| Male | Female | |
| Length | 17" ave. | 17" ave. |
| Wing Span | 45" ave. | 45" ave. |
| Weight | 15.6 oz. ave. | 17.3 oz. ave. |
Status - State and federally protected; listed as endangered in many mid-western and eastern states; declining in Great Britain.
Habitat - Widespread, but not common, in areas with lots of open
fields, marshes, and pasture for hunting and large hollow trees or numerous
old buildings for breeding sites. Less common in open countryside that has
been intensely cultivated.
Diet - Hunts by extended solitary flights over open ground, often following favorite routes. Eats any small mammals to be found at dusk and into the night in open habitats - primarily voles, shrews, mice and other rodents. Average prey size is generally smaller than that of great horned owls that may inhabit the same area. In places where the larger great horned owls are present, barn owls may hunt only in hours of darkness, not only to avoid competing for food with the larger, more crepuscular owl species, but to avoid falling prey to them as well.
Call - This nocturnal species uses a great variety of calls, from screaming, screeching, hissing, purring notes, to a repeating wheezy hiss called "snoring." The most common call is a hissing shriek cssssshhH.
Nesting - Originally nested in caves, cliff faces, and hollow trees, but take advantage of barns, attics, and other man-made structures where these are available.
Most Common Problems - These owls are often hit by cars or trucks when flying low across or along roads at night. Nests built in places where human disturbance is likely, such as haystacks, buildings, and other structures, are often destroyed; young often fall from nests or fledge from nests into dangerous areas, such as manufacturing plants, warehouses, mills.
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